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Synthesis of a novel acid-base bifunctional Zn/Ca–Zr catalyst for biodiesel application: Experimental and molecular simulation studies

Author

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  • Yu, Hewei
  • Sun, Jichao
  • Chen, Xiuxiu
  • Wang, Bing
  • Liang, Xiaohui
  • Gao, Mingjie
  • Si, Hongyu

Abstract

A novel acid-base bifunctional Zn/Ca–Zr catalyst has been synthesized successfully for biodiesel production from palm oil and acidified oil. The influence of synthetic factors on the catalytic activity of resulting Zn/Ca–Zr were discussed. Furthermore, the FAMEs yield was optimized to achieve the maximum value using the Taguchi approach. Results showed that the catalyst synthesized using a metal stoichiometric ratio of 4 : 4: 4, hydrothermal conditions, and activation temperature of 850 °C exhibited the best activity. The highest FAMEs yield was found to be 94.9% under the conditions of 5 wt% catalyst dosage, methanol/palm oil molar ratio of 20, and temperature of 170 °C at 3 h. The contribution percentage indicated that the methanol/oil molar ratio had the most significant effect on the FAMEs yield. Moreover, the Zn/Ca–Zr catalyst can catalyze the simultaneous esterification and transesterification of acidified palm oil with a 95.1% FAMEs yield and 93.3% acid reduction rate. And a 78.2% FAMEs yield can be maintained after four repeated cycles. Molecular simulations indicated the active site of Zn was more easily attacked by FFAs for esterification, while the active site of Ca was retained to adsorb methanol for transesterification, which explained the catalyst's acid-base bifunctional characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu, Hewei & Sun, Jichao & Chen, Xiuxiu & Wang, Bing & Liang, Xiaohui & Gao, Mingjie & Si, Hongyu, 2023. "Synthesis of a novel acid-base bifunctional Zn/Ca–Zr catalyst for biodiesel application: Experimental and molecular simulation studies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:217:y:2023:i:c:s0960148123010522
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.119138
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chen, Renhua & Xue, Boyuan & Zhu, Fenfen & Qiu, Yuqun & Wang, Huan & Wang, Yuxin & Feng, Huan & Wang, Yiyu & Zhou, Tiantian, 2026. "The application of heterogeneous catalysts in esterification/ transesterification for biodiesel production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 226(PB).
    2. Wang, Shengyan & Fu, Hongyu & Abulizi, Abulikemu & Okitsu, Kenji & Maeda, Yasuaki & Nulahong, Aisha & Ren, Tiezhen & Niu, Shengli, 2025. "Biodiesel production from sheep fat catalyzed by CaO-SrO(x)/BCs(y) acid-base bifunctional catalyst and process optimization," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    3. Li, Xin & Zhu, Jie & Niu, Shengli & Zheng, Yue & Xu, Yang, 2025. "Novel acid-base dual-activity heterogeneous Ba40-Ce15/ZSM-5 catalyst for biodiesel production: RSM-based optimization and performance analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).

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